A big party is planned for the unveiling of the Boeing 787 on 8 July and Boeing bosses with nearly 15,000 workers who have put the aircraft together and the world's media, will be in attendance at the Everett, Seattle, plant.

And for the first time, the world will see the assembled plane, says James Wallace on his blog at Seattle Post Intelligencer.

But Boeing needs a substitute plane to practice for the dress rehearsal. Its 767 tanker was the "perfect understudy" being of similar size as the 787, writes Wallace.

This 767 tanker was built for the Air Force but never delivered because a deal to supply the Air Force with 100 767 tankers collapsed "in a Boeing procurement scandal, and the 767 prototype never flew."

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Source: FlightGlobal.com

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